The New Age
by TheSHYGUY
Summary: A long and perilous journey awaits Kedic Rethgan. Who will he meet? What will he find? Now in the Age of Mortals yet another war threatens Krynn. Read to find out what happens. Please review. I wouldn't mind hearing your input. (If you have a better title


Authors Note: Ello everybody I hope you guys enjoy my fanfic here. Hopefully I'll have the patience (and brain capacity) to actually have it make sense, not to mention continue it. Well with out further adeur(??not even sure how to spell that) here it is! Oh by the way I don't own Dragonlance or anything related to it, I'm just using it. I'm sorry if any of my characters or creations are similar in any way to anything of anybody elses. I tell you it's pure coincidence! now leave me alone and start reading!  
  
Chapter 1: A Fateful Night  
  
"Kedic Rethgan stood in the rain outside the city gates of Palanthas, awaiting entry. He had journeyed from his home on Enstar (an island in the Sirrion Sea, just south of Southern Ergoth) and traveled all Ansalon to confirm the growing rumors of evil threatening to take over Krynn once more. It has only been 15 years from the war of souls and there is word of yet another war coming.  
  
"Just when things were starting to settle down, here comes something to mess everything up." Kedic muttered to himself while he pulled his traveling cloak tighter around himself. He was soaked to the bone but he didn't seem to notice, distracted and warmed by thoughts of his home. Though he lived alone he had friends and family surrounding him, so he was never truly alone. He was always happy, no worries or doubts about his life, until one day...  
  
~*~(Flash back)~*~  
  
...It was nearing sunset and nights shadows were beginning to settle over the land, retaking what the sun had claimed during the bright day. Kedic walked along the path that would lead him to his home town of Sirrion, so named after the Sirrion Sea. He was on his way back from a bazaar held in the neighboring town of Diaka so his pack was full of exotic goods and delicious foods.  
  
"The night is peaceful," Kedic thought to himself, "but something is wrong." Ignoring the growing feeling of urgency he continued at a leisure pace, admiring the beautiful surroundings. He stopped and took lungfulls of the sweet spring air, ripe with the smell of new life and growth. He looked at the sky behind the mountain tops, blazing a fiery red because of the setting sun. So intent was he on his surroundings he didn't notice the lurking shadows closing in him from behind.  
  
A band of renegades with a taste for blood and booty eyed Kedic's full money pouch and exploding pack with greed. Without warning they attacked, knocking Kedic down and mercilessly beating him.   
  
Through his dimming senses Kedic was able to discern the sound of a body falling, then two, three, four. He was barely able to make out a figure fighting off the bandits before he lost consciousness. It looked to be a monk...  
  
~*~(Back to present)~*~  
  
...He was startled back into awareness by a guard speaking to him. He sounded bored and he spoke half heartedly as if he had been saying the same thing time and again, which he has.  
  
"Sir, do you bring any baggage or product with you? And if so, we are forced to inspect it."  
  
"No, I wear all that I own" he responded.  
  
"What is your business in Palanthas?"  
  
"I come only to seek refuge from the rain, then I will move on."  
  
"Very well, proceed. Next in line!"  
  
Kedic proceeded past the guards, thankful to be moving again. He noticed, almost immediately, an inn nearby. With a sigh of relief he walked towards the sound of merriment and laughter. Thought it was approaching highwatch the day was dark, cold, and bitter. It was nearing the end of Autumn, and winter's chill was starting to settle into the atmosphere. The rain did not help things either. Though the storm was not fierce, the steady rain could penetrate even the heaviest cloak.  
  
Kedic finally reached the inn. A swinging sign hanging over the door labeled it the Home's Hearth Inn. As he opened the sturdy oak door and looked inside, a sudden realization hit him. The day, the atmosphere was sorrowful, even inside the inn the laughter and good natured banter was done half heartedly. The rain gave the illusion that the heavens were weeping for the mortals they so loved. It was as if the world was mourning, somehow knowing that the time ahead would be cruel and harsh. This troubled Kedic deeply.  
  
He walked inside, lost in thought, and sat at a table. He ordered whatever food they had and some water, and once it was served he absently ate it while his mind worked. Kedic planned in his mind what he would do in case there was war. There was the matter of food and water, shelter and security.   
  
Security was not a problem. The monk, who had saved him not to long ago, had taken Kedic to his monastery unknown to most. There his fellow monks and acolytes tended his wounds and brought him back from the brink of death. There, at the monastery, the same monk who rescued him, trained him in their unarmed defensive techniques. Kedic was a fast learner, and he and the monk, who was named Dieas (DEE-AZ), quickly became friends. For years Kedic trained relentlessly, perfecting this new art and form of defence. When it was finally time for him to return to his village, Dieas made a pact with Kedic; to remain friends until times end. From then on the monastery was always ready to defend Sirrion.  
  
Kedic was again wrenched from his thoughts by the sound of the inn's door blasting open. He looked up and saw a Solamnic Knight, bloodied and battle worn. Several arrows had pierced his armor in vital places, and now blood poured freely from the wounds. His eyes were distant, focusing on something not on this plane of existence. This man's end was near, at least so much was apparent in his eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but blood turned his words into nothing more but a wet gurgle. After coughing and gagging, he managed to speak.  
  
"Dra-Dragons..."   
  
This was nothing more but a whisper, but the inn was so silent that it was heard as clear as if he had shouted it. His strength, and his life, finished, the knight collapsed; his life leaving him before his body hit the ground.  
  
**Well I hope you all liked the first chapter. Please read and review I would like your input on this. This may be subject to corrections and stuff so if you have time go ahead and reread it. Well I'm off to work on the second chapter. Thank you all and take care!!** 


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